New Year's, Good Year
by LarsonWright
Summary: Picks up from the end of Run Away Home.  Jake leads Sam off away from the the bon fire.  I don't want to give a lot away.  My first fanfic.  Enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys,  
****so this is my first fanfic I've written and I'm so excited about sharing it with you.  
It takes place at the end of the bon fire in Run Away Home. **

****disclaimer** I do not own Phantom Stallion or Sam and Jake. Terri Farley is a lovely woman, and I would like to thank her for the wonderful characters she created.  
And also, the ending of the book, obviously I didn't write that but it's there as a reminder as to where my story picks up..**

_"Hawaii!" Sam shouted, but her disbelief must have surprised him, because even when Kit yelled Jake's name from the other side of the bonfire, Jake kept staring at her.  
"what?" she asked.  
Drawing a breath so deep his chest swelled with it, Jake took Sam's hand in his.  
She stopped breathing for a second and saw Jake raise his eyebrows as if asking for permission.  
"Walk over there with me?" he asked.  
This time it was Sam who was speechless, but she squeezed Jake's hand and walked with him._

Sam thought they were going over to Kit, but Jake kept walking and headed towards the barn, away from the eyes of everyone at the New Year's bonfire. He stopped just inside the barn doors. The light of the fire barely reached inside of the barn, but the light that did made the barn glow.

Jake gently stroked the back of Sam's hand with his thumb before letting go of her hand and stepping into the shadows.

"Is everything alright?" Sam whispered when she saw his hand reach up and rub the back of his neck.

Gram started the countdown until midnight, getting to 50 before other's joined in.

Sam turned around and poked her head out of the door and looked around. No one had seemed to notice they had gone into the barn except for Kit, who had rolled his eyes at Jake when they walked passed him.

49... 48... 47...

Sam saw her Dad and Brynna standing close to the bon fire. Cody was asleep in Brynna's arms, but he wouldn't be for long now that the countdown had started. Her best friend Jen was sitting with her boyfriend, Ryan Slocum, on the front steps of the ranch house.

46... 45... 44...

"Look, Brat," Jake had stepped out of the shadows and was facing her now. His thumbs were through his belt loops, and eyes on the floor. "I'm glad we're friends again."

37... 36... 35...

Sam stepped back inside the barn to look at Jake. "I am too, jerk." She gave a wide smile, but it disappeared when she noticed the troubled look on his face. "What's wrong?"

32... 31... 30...

"It's nothin', don't worry about it." Jake looked up and rubbed the back of his neck again. This sort of thing, talking about his feelings, wasn't the easiest for him.

28... 27... 26...

Sam stepped closer to him. She had to look up at him from where she stood. Jake towered over her. He was a foot taller than her, if not more.

25... 24... 23...

"Are you sure?" Sam bit her bottom lip and raised an eyebrow.

22... 21... 20...

"Well, it's just..." He trailed off. He didn't know how to tell her without looking like an idiot and hurting himself.

19... 18... 17...

The countdown from the people around the bon fire grew louder and woke up Cody. His crying wasn't as loud, but Sam could still hear it and she looked over her shoulder.

16... 15... 14...

Sam kept quiet and waited for Jake to finish what he had started to say.

13... 12... 11...

Time seemed to slow, and the countdown grew even louder.

10... 9... 8... 7...

Jake looked down into Sam's eyes.

6... 5... 4...

"What is it Jake?" Sam asked, getting a little impatient now. Jake raised his hand and pushed back some of the hair that had fallen from Sam's pony tail and looked her over. His eyes stopped on her lips.

3... 2... 1.

As everyone hooted and hollered and shouted out 'Happy New Year', Jake bent down and kissed Sam. His lips were firm and slightly chapped against her own soft ones. Jake's other hand came up and framed the other side of Sam's face.

Their lips parted for a moment of breath, and Sam stepped back. "Jake..." She stared up at him.

Jake kept his eyes closed a few seconds longer. When he opened them he said, "I love you, Brat."

**Well what do you think?  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's chapter two! woo! I've actually had it written for a few days now, but I felt as though there should have been more in this chapter. I ended up not adding any more to it. **

Sam stared blankly up into Jake's face. For the second time tonight she was speechless. Had Jake really just told her that he loved her?

"Jake, I -" she started to say, but he cut her off.

"I know you may think of me just like a brother, but I had to say it."

"But Jake-" she started to say again.

"Just listen, brat. I love you. I have for a while, which is why I worry about you and am so protective of you. Well, that and your accident being partly my fault." Jake stopped talking long enough to take a deep breath and take a step closer to Sam. "And I know the guys at school are going to harass me about this, but I don't care."

"Jake will you just stop talking for a minute? It's nice that you're finally talking more, but jeeze! Can I just say what I was going to?" This time Sam cut Jake off. For someone who you could barely get two words out of his mouth about his feelings, when he started talking about them he really couldn't shut up.

Jake rubbed the back of his neck and became quiet.

"I don't think of you as a brother. I haven't for a while." She looked into his wild mustang eyes and smiled. Filling the gap between their two bodies, she stepped forward and threw her arms around him and buried her head in his chest. "I love you too. You just caught me off guard."

Jake wrapped his arms around Sam. "I'm so glad you said that." He bent down to kiss her again, and this time Sam went up on her tip-toes to meet his lips half way there. She felt Jake's chest rise and fall slower as his breathing started to match her own.

Sam had forgotten about the party going on outside of the barn until it sounded like someone call her name. She heard someone call for Jake as well. Parting her lips from his she whispered, "We should get back out there."

Jake gave Sam one last kiss on her forehead and dropped his arms from around her. "You're probably right." He took her hand in his and led the way out of the barn.

**I'm sorry it's so short. But I like it, and I hope you do too :)**


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